Curs

o
2019
/20

Mor
fo
I Un xintax
i t 3. is
WOR
D
PROC FORMAT
ESS E IO N
S.
 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
We have already talked about one of the ways of forming new words
in English: Affixation. Prefixes in English have Saxon, Latin, and Greek
origin.
-Saxon origin:
Un-: negative meaning, untie, un fair, unfamiliar.
Out-: outvote, outlive.
over-: overexcited, overvalue.
Under-: meaning ‘less than’, underpay, underdeveloped
Mis-: meaning ‘bad’, miscalculate, misbehave, misunderstanding.
Fore-: meaning ‘future time’ foretell, foresee – or place – foreword,
forehead.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
-Latin origin:
ante-: meaning ‘previous’: antechamber, antediluvian.
bi-: bilingual, bisexual.
De-: privative meaning: decentralize, decode, defrost.
Dis-: negative meaning: dishonour, dislike.
in-: (different allomorphs: im-. Il-, ir-): negative meaning:
inaudible, immoral, illogical, irregular.
Re-: indicates the repetition of the action: rebuild, reconsider.
Sub-: indicates a place –subway,submarine- or refers to a
quality under the standard –subhuman, sub-standard.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
Greek origin:
Anti-: meaning against: anti-semite, anti-freeze.
auto-: autobiography.
Hyper-: meaning superior degree: hyperactive,
hypercritical.
Hypo-: meaning inferior degree or position ‘under’:
hypothermia, hypodermic.
Mono-: meaning one: monoplane, monosyllable.
Poly-: meaning many: polygamy, polynomial.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
English suffixes can be divided as well into different
groups according to the class of words they form:
-Nouns:
(1) Those that refer to the agent of the action:
-ant: latin origin, tenant, disinfectant.
-er: saxon origin, writer, driver.
-or: latin origin, author, censor.
-ist: greek origin, typist, masochist.

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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
(2) Those that refer mainly to abstract entities:
-al: latin origin, survival, arrival.
-dom: saxon origin: kingdom, gasterdom.
-hood: saxon origin, father hood, childhood.
-ism: greek origin, communism, impressionism.
-ity: latin origin, falsety reality.
-ment: latin origin, amazement, government.
-nes: saxon origin, happiness, kindness.
-ship: saxon origin, friendship, hardship.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
(3) Those used to form the feminine version of a word.
-ess: latin origin, princess, waitress.
-ette: latin origin, suffragette.

- Adjectives:
(1)Those that refer to a quality:
-able: latin origin, unforgettable.
-al: latin origin, criminal, preferential.
-ful: saxon origin, wonderful, awful.
-ic: latin origin, atomic, problematic.
-ish: saxon origin, bookish, foolish.
-ive: latin origin, attractive, productive.
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-less: saxon origin, harmless, helpless.
- like: saxon origin, goodlike, sportsmanlike.
 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
(2) Nationalities.
-an: latin origin, Rhodesian, Belgian.
-ese: latin origin, Japanese, Chinese.
-ish: saxon origin, Spanish, Irish.
-ite: greek origin, Israelite.
-Verbs:
-en: saxon origin, sweeten, lighten.
-ify: latin origin, modify, simplify.
-ize: greek origin, mechanize, fertilize.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
-Adverbs:
-ly: saxon origin, openly, carefully.

Compounding is the process of putting two words together to form a

third one. We may have different combinations:
- Compound nouns:
- (1) Noun + noun: airbrake, raindrop, dishwasher, window pane.
- (2) –ing form + noun: washing machine, frying pan, freezing point.
- (3) Adjective + noun: hothouse, common sense, paleface, highbrow.
- (4) Verb + noun: knitwear, turntable, hangman, dance hall.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
-(5) Pronoun + noun: she-wolf, he-wolf.
-(6) Adverb + noun: background, undertaker, afternoon.
-(7) Noun + adverb: passer-by, looker-on, goings-on.

Compound nouns can be divided into three groups according to

semantic criteria:
(1) Endocentric compounds: they have a dominant constituent,
the head, which receives the grammatical makers such as the plural
form. The dependent element is a modifier of the head which specifies
a property of it. This semantic relationship is usually of the type “a
kind of…” The meaning of endocentric compounds is transparent:
darkroom, football, armchair, laser printer, book cover.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
(2) Exocentric compounds:
they also have a dominant constituent which can be
regarded as the head since it receives the grammatical
markers. However, the relationship between the two
members of the compound is not one of head-modifier,
i.e. the word does not have the meaning “X is a kind of
Y”. For example butterfingers is neither a kind of finger
nor a kind of butter but a person who is incapable of
holding things without dropping them. The meaning of
exocentric compounds is opaque. E.g. pickpocket, blue
collar, laptop. 11
 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
(3) Copulative compounds:
They are formed by two nouns that name separate
entities but are combined together. E.g. Alsace-Lorraine,
bitter-sweet, girlfriend, sleepwalk.

(4) Neoclassical compounds: part of the word is a

borrowing from Greek or Latin. Difficult to distinguish
sometimes if it is a case of affixation or compound. E.g.
Megacity, Anglophone, agriculture, democracy,
psychology.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
Compound adjectives:
(1)Noun+ adjective: duty-free, waterproof, homesick, colour-blind.
(2)Noun + ing form: breathtaking, heart-breaking.
(3)Noun + -ed past participle: sunburnt, had-made, self-taught.
(4)Adjective + Adjective: bitter-sweet, deaf-mute, self-taught.
(5)Ajective/adverb + ´-ing form: good-looking, far-seeing, forth
coming, easy-going.
(6)Adjective/adverb + -ed / past participle: new-laid, widespread.
(7)Adjective/ adverb + noun ending in –ed: dark-haired, blue-
eyed, well-mannered.
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 m b i ni n g:
3.1.Co on, suffixation
r e fi x at i
p p o u n d ing
and com
-Compound verbs:
(1)Adverb + verb: overcome, underline, uphold.
(2)Noun + verb: brainwash, sightsee, baby-sit, caretake.

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 C r e a t i ng: i ng ,
3.2. g , sho rt e n
w i n g.
Borro a nd s h i ft i n
d i n g
blen
Borrowings are foreign words that a language take from
another language.
English, contrary to what happens in Spanish, does not
change the morphological form of these words, only their
pronunciation. English borrowings have many different
origins:
(1)Italian: piano, fresco, opera, sonata, umbrella.
(2)Spanish: siesta, patio, matador.
(3)Dutch: yacht, iceberg, landscape.
(4)French: camouflage, champagne, chef, rouge. 15
 C re a t i ng: i ng ,
3.2. g , sho r t e n
w i n g.
Borro a nd s h i ft i n
d i n g
blen
Backformation: a kind of formation of words which consists on the
reduction of a word (esp. a noun) to another word or another type of.
e.g. sculpt -> sculptor; edit ->editor; revision->revise; obsessive->
obsess; donation->donate.

Shortenings or clippings are words formed by dropping one or several

syllables of one word. The shortening of the word can take place:
(1)At the beginning of the word: (tele)phone, (auto)bus, (aero)plane.
(2)At the end of the word: (lab)oratory, exam(ination), perm(anent wave)
pop(ular) music.
(3)Sometimes both the initial and the final syllables are dropped:
(in)flu(enza).
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 C re a t i ng: i ng ,
3.2. g , sho r t e n
w i n g.
Borro a nd s h i ft i n
d i n g
blen
Blendings or crossings are words formed by the union of two or
more words: brunch (breakfast + lunch), fantabulous (fantastic +
fabulous), bit (binary digit), breathalyser (breath + analyser), smog
(smoke + fog), motel (motor + hotel).

Shifting is the change of the lexical category of a word, for

example, a noun used as a verb. We may find different changes:
(1)Noun to verb: to bottle, to corner, to fool.
(2)Verb to noun: a peep, a look, a meet, a repeat.
(3)Adjective to noun: the blind, the poor, the old.
(4)Adjective to verb: to dirty, to empty.
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 C re a t i ng: i ng ,
3.2. g , sho r t e n
w i n g.
Borro a nd s h i ft i n
d i n g
blen
Coinage is the process of forming new words from
brand-words, i.e. Kodak, Kleenex.
Eponym: name of a famous person to a concept related
to him or her. E.g. Ohm, Watt, Columbia.
Reduplication is the process of forming a new word by
doubling a morpheme, usually the base. We may find
two different types: those in which there is not any
change in the base: bye-bye, so so, fifty-fifty, drip-drip;
and those in which the internal vowel is modified: chit-
chat, tick-tack, wishy-washy.
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 C re a t i ng: i ng ,
3.2. g , sho r t e n
w i n g.
Borro a nd s h i ft i n
d i n g
blen
Acronyms are words formed by joining the initial letters
of several words. Some of them are pronounced spelling
all the letters –FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), MIT
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology), BBC (British
Broadcasting Corporation), and others are pronounced as
a single word –NATO ( the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation), UNESCO ( the United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organisation), laser (lightwave
amplification, by stimulated emission of radiation).

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 r ma t i o n
. W o r d fo nal
3. 3 i nfle c t i o
s se s :
proce g y.
ph o lo
mor
We have to consider two new terms in relation to
word-formation processes related to inflectional
morphology.
Ablaut / replacement was first used by German
linguists to refer to vowel alternations of the sing-sang-
sung variety inherited from Indo-European, which from
their origins have been grammatical signalling devices
and thus constitute pure examples of vowel modification
as a morphological process. It occurs in verbs as well in
nouns and adjectives: criterion-criteria, woman-women,
mouse-mice, eat- ate, speak-spoke, good-better-best, 20
bad-worse-worst, little-less-least.
 r ma t i o n
. W o r d fo nal
3. 3 i nfle c t i o
s se s :
proce g y.
ph o lo
mor
We have to consider two new terms in relation to word-
formation processes related to inflectional morphology.
Suppletion is a morphological process whereby a root
morpheme is replaced by a phonologically unrelated
form in order to indicate a grammatical contrast.
Examples:
Basic from Suppletive form
I me
be were
good well
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